The Chechen catastrophe could have been prevented

06.09.2016

Exactly a quarter century ago, the authorities in Chechnya passed into the hands of the separatists, resulting in two bloody wars. It is believed that Dzhokhar Dudayev was a fanatic, with whom it was impossible to negotiate, and the political agenda in Grozny had already dictated by radical Islam. In fact, it is only excuses that the Federal government was trying to cover up their mistakes.

The date when the Supreme Soviet of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR, Grozny has declared a state of emergency in connection with the attempted violent seizure of power, considered to be almost the day of proclamation of independence of Chechnya, although in fact it is not so.

Moscow is silent

“The General situation in the country was such that taken separately the Ulyanovsk region introduced a ban on the export from its territory meat and dairy products, threatening to put armed customs at the border, “one that”

The seizure of power, then, began with the meeting (let’s call it “Maidan”, although Chechen “area” is called the same way) in the center of Grozny, by the evening to show their national specificity – the crowd began to dance the Zikr. But the main specific feature of Chechnya the summer of 1991 was a diarchy. The United Congress of the Chechen people (NCCP) gradually supplanted the Soviet and post-Soviet authorities on the ground, replacing them with informal. The NCCP itself grew out of the Chechen national Congress, which took place the year before, and was a usual for that time, the Association of the local intelligentsia and “respected people discussing the issues of the national culture”. This he did not differ from the Lithuanian sąjūdis or Armenian national movement (ANM), except that the CHI ASSR is not a Union Republic, and Autonomous region in RSFSR without constitutional grounds for secession from the Federation. But then this sort of organization appeared almost in every national region, and fight them at the Federal level, no one thought it necessary, because they all “support perestroika” and fit into its essence. But by and large, the Federal government at that time for anyone to fight really didn’t, though, even lighten up.

Under the pressure of the NCCP, the Supreme Council of the CHI ASSR in November 1990 adopted a “Declaration on state sovereignty of the Chechen-Ingush Republic”, which the Federal center deaf ear. It was considered that local authorities should be left clean and tidy, good for the first time in Soviet times, the first Secretary of local regional Committee was appointed ethnic Chechen – Doku Zavgayev (first in the troubled Republic, all senior officials – from the first Secretary to the head of the KGB – were mostly Russian). Moreover, Chechen Declaration of sovereignty seemed small nuisance against similar declarations of Tatarstan and Bashkortostan. The General situation in the country was such that taken separately the Ulyanovsk region introduced a ban on the export from its territory meat and dairy products, threatening to put armed customs at the border, “and she’s alone.

It is considered that the catalyst to a sharp aggravation of the situation in Chechnya was a putsch. This is not so, because in July 1991, more than a month before the coup NCCP declared itself the Supreme power in the CHI ASSR, and renamed Republic Nokhchi-Cho. In the night of 1 September 2, 1991 the NCCP announces the overthrow of the Supreme Council and about the “transfer of authority” to its Executive Committee, which will subsequently be renamed to a Temporary high Council (BBC). At the same time he is forming the National guard, the head of which stood the leader of the party of the Islamic path Bislan “Demon” Gantamirov – street thug picks in the guard and “fraternally” he obliged.

Chairman of the Executive Committee of the NCCP at the time was major-General Dzhokhar Dudayev, a former commander of the 326-Oh Tarnopolsky heavy bomber division stationed in Estonia (now there is a NATO base). Dudayev was considered excellent campaigner, he was followed by heavy the glory of the specialist in carpet bombing, he personally flew to Khost in Afghanistan at the controls of the Tu-22, working on Mojahedin the bomb of volume explosion. He was considered hot-tempered, but honest officer, albeit weird. The General and the order of the red banner he received for the excellent organization of the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and hover authorized the order based in Estonia. The path to the General’s rank had revealed to him that he was a member of the Communist party and married to a Russian (Chechens and Ingush reluctantly promoted, and, for example, the decision on awarding Ruslan Aushev of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for the defense of the Salang pass were taken directly to the Politburo).

It is noteworthy that Dudayev quickly found a common language with Estonians, and after the events in Vilnius, Lithuania said it would close airspace if Soviet troops enter Estonia. Technically he could do, but Estonians like it. Similarly, an artillery Colonel Aslan Maskhadov was at one time chief of staff and Chairman of the officers ‘ Assembly of the Vilnius garrison – actually sabotaged the orders from Moscow, and from the headquarters of the Baltic military district in Riga.

But back to Ivan. 4 Sep ‘guards’ taking over the TV and radio House, after which Dudayev reads live a statement saying that the air force takes care of all power in the Republic “prior to democratic elections.” But you need to understand that the force of unity and it was not close. That same night there almost was an internal coup, and the result of these clashes was the rapid radicalization of the situation in the city. On the morning of 5 guards seized the House of trade unions, which met the air force, and conveys all the power Dudayev. Following the seizure of steel the building of the KGB and the Prosecutor’s office and the detention facility from which released all the prisoners.

The Supreme Council of the RSFSR woke up only on September 9 and demanded that the “guards” to surrender their weapons and vacate occupied buildings, but Moscow either Federal, Russian – the situation in Grozny is not controlled. Dudayev declared the requirement of the RSFSR Supreme Soviet “provocation on an international scale, aimed at perpetuating colonial rule” and for some reason declared Gazavat, although from a religious point of view, had no right to do this and apparently didn’t understand the religious meaning of these words.

Strange people

“Dudayev was considered excellent campaigner, he was followed by heavy the glory of the specialist in carpet bombing, he personally flew to Khost in Afghanistan at the controls of the Tu-22, working on Mojahedin the bomb of volume explosion”

Personal communication Dudayev did not make the impression of a psychopath that it came to represent later. The strangeness of his behavior was more calculated one-time actions in order to be remembered, to impress the stranger or to shock his own environment to raise tribal authority.

In the presence of the author of these lines in the autumn of 1991 Dudayev suddenly started talking about the fact that Moscow is prepared to use against Chechnya “seismic weapon”, that is, to cause an artificial earthquake. It was the fashion, in the spring, the earthquake happened in South Ossetia, and Armenia has not yet forgotten, and is so delusional to a senior officer of the Soviet long-range aviation of the text were not for Moscow visitors, and for 18-19-year-old guys in similar black suits and short rifles, which is carefully played bodyguards, watching in a basement video of Hong Kong militants. In the former house of receptions of the Chechen-Ingush regional Committee of the party Dudayev then sat on the carved chair back to the window (a sniper’s dream), and young men with guns stood in picturesque poses on the sides of the window, representing useless from a military point of view, but almost antique pieces. Occasionally they looked behind the curtains, that looked absolutely ridiculous, especially that before the meeting they were not even thought to search the guests.

In those days the power of Dudayev kept only on such semi-literate guys two or three related clans, to whom he played in the Almighty and omniscient God that the local mentality is typical. The real power in the NCCP belonged to several grey cardinals from among the professional anti-Soviet nationalist, but not of a religious character, notably the brothers Temesheva and Movladi Udugov, an order of magnitude surpassing all others in sophistication of thinking. Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, which is considered to be almost the main ideologist of the Chechen nationalist surge in the summer and autumn of 1991, was more of a puppet in the hands of people more violent, cynical and cunning than a real leader. And most importantly – he was not a competitor in the struggle for power in the Republic within the NCCP and around it as it quickly descended from the arena of Bahauddin Bakhmadov, which until September 5 somehow considered more promising figure than Dudayev. Ruslan Khasbulatov, who considered Bahmatova “threat No. 1”, even speaking from the stage at a meeting of the Supreme Council of the Republic, which ended with the dissolution, did not take his eyes. Himself Bakhmadov with the guard-kid in suit from Versace (starvation in 1991, these details was evident) and with the Israeli miniuzi (to get this in the USSR was almost impossible) demonstratively late, and a few moments wandering around the room, as if choosing a better place (a cheap theatrical gesture, but Chechnya is working).

In these people, there was nothing religious. Even the Chairman of the air force was Hussein Ahmadov – the Soviet people Genesis, a regional historian, which was thousands, but an ardent nationalist all his life criticized the silly Soviet concept of the “voluntary accession of Chechnya to Russia”, for which he was exiled from researcher CHI Institute to the village teacher. Soviet power wherever it could reach, built universities and organized local research institutes, Humanities faculties and departments which in the end became a source of manpower for nationalist revolutions and revivals” 1990-91 years. In many places “liberated historical thought,” plunged into the process of “udivlenie of the nation.” For example, in the same Grozny and Nazran were tens of pseudoscientific magazines and brochures, in which the Genesis of Chechens was carried out directly from the Babylonians and Sumerians (now in this uncompromising battle for the inheritance of the Scythians, Sarmatians, and Alans joined not only the “core” peoples of the North Caucasus, but also Ukrainians). In many cases, seemingly harmless, and even amusing survey quickly turned into anti-Russian propaganda, especially if they are in this direction, time to push. But in the end Akhmadov, becoming the head of “Parliament of Ichkeria”, the total for the year fell out with Dudayev, after a couple of attempts to raise in Parliament the rebellion, resigned, participation in the armed resistance are not taken, and, until recently, peacefully taught at the same Academy, which Rosobrnadzor already tried several times to take away the license.

Error remember

“A group of people, manipulated by a coup in Grozny and Dudayev personally, in all seriousness I think that you will create in Chechnya new Kuwait”

We emphasize once again: going on then to the Republic of nationalist bacchanalia were not tied to the region for non-traditional forms of Islam, and later developed into terrorism. Because it is believed that Dudayev could agree, moreover, he could be in the North Caucasus is something of a support of the new Russian government in the person of Boris Yeltsin, if I showed him the proper respect. However, armed rebellion in a particular region did not include negotiations with the invaders (although they were).

Now comfortably speculate on whether it was necessary to recognize the authority of Dudayev and thus legitimiteit the process of disintegration of Russia. But it is worth remembering that the main advisers of the Russian leadership (of the Union can already forget) was people who had no real idea about the events, but had quite specific views on the future of Russia as a state. For example, the chief of international relations was considered Emil pain, which became in 1993 head of the Center of ethnopolitical and regional researches, a member of the Presidential Council, the Deputy chief of analytical Department of the President of the Russian Federation and Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation. This native of Kiev and specialist in urban planning is essentially led by the national policy of Russia, in which reports from the field were ignored and information intelligence simply disappeared or was declared biased. The army is not there, and the vertical of power ended outside the Garden ring.

In turn, a small group of people, manipulated by a coup in Grozny and Dudayev personally, in all seriousness believed that will create the new Chechnya, Kuwait, separated from the historic invader and colonizer – Russia. They grew out of the Chechen intelligentsia created by the Soviet power on a level place, and imagine themselves in the framework of the Russian culture, but used it for their own purposes. Few of them spoke Russian with a typical accent of the Vainakh – it was a clean speech on which they grew. And let nationalist coup the fall of 1991 differed little from similar events in the Soviet republics, it still left room for maneuver and compromise.

Another thing is that neither the desire nor the physical ability to crush a local rebellion in the Bud from Moscow was not. And then he Dudayev ceased to control their own environment, if at all, could do it ever. Details of multilayer alignment in Chechen society he imagined bad, making him easy prey for the type of characters and Udugov.

Flawed attempts of the centre to create a Ministry for nationality Affairs headed by academic scientists and bureaucrats of the third line only worsened the situation. But Dudayev was increasingly put itself, if not Napoleon, then a new Shamil. This nightmare is naturally moved to the interchange, which is exacerbated by the monstrous failures of the then environment of Boris Yeltsin, starting with defense Minister Pavel Grachev and the list goes on.

Now, a quarter century later, it seems that the estimate errors of the time easily enough, fortunately, these mistakes are quite obvious. But in September 1991, where better to notice shifty eyes Khasbulatov, brutal inadequacy Rutskoi, miniuzi in the hands of youngsters-guard and dhikr in the square. No one could imagine that in two years all this to turn into hell on earth from which no-one gets updated. So the nationalist revolution in CHI ASSR, kasauli small regional rebellion in a series of other, resulted in perhaps the most important political event in Russia 90-ies, in the end, turned dying country into a new state.